Betrayal
by ravens rising
Summary: And what he heard was the screaming of Hollows.


Title: Betrayal  
Rating: PG  
Warnings: A little bit dark  
Word Count: 640  
Characters: Ukitake, Shunsui  
Pairings: you can interpret the end as Ukitake/Shunsui or just gen  
Note: **IMPORTANT- **This takes place in a slight AU universe that exists in my head. In it, Yamamoto and Central 46 are eviler than I believe they are/were in canon. Shunsui and Jyuu became Captains to try to change it from the inside. It's complicated. Most of it will never been written down. But that summary might help this fic make a little bit more sense. ^_^;; And make the odd characterization make a little more sense too...

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A pale form stood in the darkness of his quarters, staring out the window. Shadows from the moonlight danced upon his skin and bone white robes. His entire body was motionless and tense; the only movements able to be seen were the slow rise and fall of his chest and the intermittent blinking of his eyes.

He saw not the darkness; he saw not the trees, nor the pond. His mind's eye saw something quite different, something much less peaceful than the quiet scene that lay before him.

And what he heard was the screaming of Hollows.

A hand shifted absently to rub at the other arm, skin pink and raw from the vicious scrubbing of recent multiple washings.

There was a change in the room, a light wisp of air, and the slim fingers tensed against his arm, his trimmed nails digging into his flesh. After a moment, they haltingly uncurled, as if the owner was forcing them to move.

There was silence, then, "Are they alright?" The white figure inquired, voice flat and full of nothing.

"They're alive." The new arrival replied from the back of the dark room.

The first released a breath of air, a small bit of tension leaving his thin form. "That's enough, I suppose." There was _something_ in his voice now, a sliver of something that may have been the bone-deep exhaustion of millennia.

There was a quiet rustling of robes as the second man moved to stand behind the first. He stopped inches away from the other, just close enough not to touch.

"I sent them to an old friend." He said finally, the names _Isshin _and _Karakura Town_ floating in the air between them, unsaid but potent with meaning and old scars. The first understood.

"Good. He'll help them." He replied absently, fingers tracing faint curves on the skin of his arm.

"Yes, he will." Pause littered with unheard words, "They _will_ be alright, Jyuushirou."

Jyuushirou let out a shuddering gasp, his fingers flexing slightly again, "I hope so. God, I hope so."

"So do I." His friend said, his voice deep with the loss of a comrade and good friend.

They stood there in silence, both staring out the window, each seeing their own nightmare or memories- sometime memories that haunted like nightmares.

"Who was it, Shunsui? Who was the true traitor? You know. I can see it in your eyes." The sharpness in his tone was almost physical, cutting the air like a dagger, trying to reach to the heart.

There was a pause. "I don't know if you'll believe me." He finally said sadly.

Jyuushirou's hand moved up his arm, clasping it closer, "The person who betrayed Kisuke and the others? I don't know if that's even what I meant. No. That's not who I meant." He said angrily, not at Shunsui, truly, but at himself- self-recrimination.

"…what?"

"Not the ones who betrayed our friends today. Not just them. Who has _betrayed_?" Silence. "All of us, Shunsui. In the end it was all of us who have betrayed."

Someone today had betrayed Soul Society, yes… but there are different kinds of betrayal- the betrayal of friendship, the betrayal of ideals…

Shunsui reached out, and for the first time since entering the room, touched his friend, laid a hand on his shoulder and drew him back to rest against his chest. "We do what we can, my friend. We do all that we can." His friend's body was stiff against his, unyielding.

"This has got to stop, Shunsui." Jyuushirou whispered, so softly Shunsui almost couldn't hear it, "Something has to break." After a moment, he finally gave in, pressing his head back and breathing in the familiar scent of fresh air and sake.

But he could still hear the screams- and he couldn't tell anymore if they came from a Hollow or a Shinigami.


End file.
